


Perfect Places

by Eaptallmadge



Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: AU- WW2 Spies, Best Friends, Culper spy ring but in ww2, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Angst, I'll add more eventually if I think of any, M/M, Multi, Romance, occasional pining, some descriptions of violence bc war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 20:03:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11881818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eaptallmadge/pseuds/Eaptallmadge
Summary: Caleb, who stares back at Ben like he plastered the planets in their place, this man is full of wit and promise and treasure and loyalty and everything that Ben wants to be. Ben concludes that he will give every damn thing he has for Caleb, everything- he cannot live any other way.





	Perfect Places

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooo friends! So so sorry I’ve been away-- I moved into college the 16th and have been exhaustingly (yet enthusiastically) busy with things. Class starts today so hopefully I’ll get into the swing of things and can set aside an allotted amount of time specifically for this. I really do consider this a priority, hobby, and something that fuels my heart and soul! That being said, PLEASE leave kudos/comments/suggestions/whatever else you lovely people do! Expect a new chapter roughly every few days?? It definitely may vary-- I’ll apologize in advance for that.
> 
> I'm the biggest history nerd ever so I'll try to make this as accurate as possible.
> 
> The title is a song by Lorde (her new album is a masterpiece)-- I think it describes this story and the characters somewhat well, I hope to continue that youthful yet tough/brave narrative through the story.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the previous, past, and current love. I appreciate it more than I can SAY! 
> 
> Enjoy, my angels! <3

 

_ May 1st, 1941 _

 

Caleb prays to God, thanking him for the sun and the way it hits Ben’s hair.

 

He is leaning against Lucas Brewster’s barn, his white button up showing some of his chest as he brings his hands to behind his head. This is Caleb’s favorite view of him: relaxed. Since he was accepted into Yale, he rarely sees his friend like this. 

 

“How much left?” He squints as he looks up at Caleb, who is standing, arms crossed, sweat running down his neck.

 

“6 barrels, I think.” The heat is early and ridiculous this year. A heat wave, they said, rare to Long Island.

 

“I’ll never eat another apple again,” Ben declares, holding his hand out to have Caleb help him up.

 

“What about Mrs. Tallmadge’s apple pies?” Caleb taunts. He pulls Ben up- they hold on to each other a little too long. That is all but unusual for them. 

 

Ben tries not to smile. “The only exception,” he grinds his teeth as he picks up a barrel of apples and carries them into the barn.

\--

 

Lucas Brewster comes into the barn at dusk and thanks them for working, as he does every night. 

 

“Are you going home tonight?” Caleb asks as he sorts through the apples. Occasionally, when it’s too late to walk the mile and a half home, Ben crashes in the barn. Caleb never lets him sleep alone.

 

“I could, but I won’t,” he responds, throwing a dinged up apple at Caleb. “Why not?”

 

“Because you’re here. And I need to talk to you.” Ben is serious now. Ever since he went home for evening supper, Caleb has seen stiffness in him. 

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Ben doesn’t speak. After a few seconds, Caleb looks up- Ben is holding his head in his hands. 

 

“Ben?” Caleb moves quickly, holding Ben’s wrists, encouraging him to speak. “It’s okay. You can tell me.” 

 

“Sam, he enlisted, Sam enlisted,” Ben speaks through his hands. “Caleb, I have to go. I have to go with him.”

 

“Shh, Ben, it’s okay, yeah?” Softly, Caleb reassures him. Ben is strong- he can’t recall the last time he saw Ben weep.

 

“I can’t let him go alone. You know what happened to Nathan, and now Selah has been drafted, and he  _ volunteers _ , Caleb, he can’t go alone.” His shoulders fall into Caleb as he shifts them against the hay.

 

_ Nathan, that was the the last time he cried _ , Caleb thinks.  _ Much more soft and sad. Not so panicky and guilt-stricken.  _

 

“Let’s be rational about this-” Caleb starts. He rubs Ben’s back until he stands assertively. 

 

“Rational? Does war sound rational to you, Caleb?”

 

Caleb blinks, scrunched eyes, biting his top lip. “No. Neither do you.” He remains calm.

 

“If he’s going, I am too.”

 

“Bennyboy,” Caleb stands, inches from him now. He pauses, thinking. “Ben, we’re so young. This war will destroy us,” he pleads.

 

“Us?” Ben looks up at him. The wind blows softly.

 

Caleb chuckles. “You’re not getting shot at alone, not on my watch. Aye, maybe Abe will join us!”

 

Ben succumbs to panic again. “Caleb, this isn’t a decision to take lightly.”

 

“It seems that you sure did!”

 

Ben is silent, surely flustering with anger.

 

“Oh Ben,” Caleb moves close to him, his fingers dance around Ben’s ribs. “What do we have to lose?”

 

Ben smiles. His face is streaked red from crying, but he kisses Caleb’s cheek anyways. Caleb blushes like a child.

 

“You know, they don’t take well to homosexuals in the military,” Ben fights.

 

“Ha! They don’t take well to homosexuals anywhere!”

 

Ben drops his smile. “I know.”

 

“But we’ve seen to make it this far,” Caleb sounds hopeful, squeezing Ben’s hand.

 

Caleb, who stares back at Ben like he plastered the planets in their place, this man is full of wit and promise and treasure and loyalty and everything that Ben wants to be. Ben concludes that he will give every damn thing he has for Caleb, everything- he cannot live any other way.

 

“I love you,” Ben says, whispering like the wind. “Always.”

 

\--

 

_ June 6th, 1941 _

 

Benjamin is running.

 

He can’t see. The branches blind him. Once he can catch his breath, his stomach drops. 

 

_ “Oh, oh no,” _ he thinks. _ “Washington didn’t deploy us here, this isn’t near the beach, this is  _ nowhere _ ,”  _ he continues, full of doubt and panic.

 

“Tallboy,” a voice appears. Caleb emerges from the bushes, breaking a twig as he moves slowly. There is little light, but Ben is caught up in the way Caleb’s new beard looks against his normally small frame. 

 

“Caleb- wha,” Ben struggles to make sense of this.

 

“It’s okay. We just got separated at the drop zone. We’re together now.”

 

Ben nods. “Right. Have you seen Abe?”

 

“I think he fell East of me. That damned wind,” Caleb curses. 

 

“Right,” Ben answers. He gathers their drop gear and retrieves his flash light. “You ready?”

 

“Lead the way.”

 

They take off, sneaking into the midnight. The French flora and fauna doesn’t seem to differ too much from Setauket in this light. The comfort hits Ben like a train, while Caleb’s soft hand wraps around his own. He is reminded that even here, even thousands of miles from home, even when the gunfire looks like Heaven, Caleb is still here-- and things aren’t so different at all. 

 

\--

 

“Hey fat-heads,” Abe says, smacking Caleb in the chest.

 

“No, I don’t want to hear it-” Ben starts.

 

“You missed the drop zone!”

 

“As if I could control it!”

 

“You knew how the wind was, and you!” Abe says, angry now, pointing at Caleb. “You- you’ve dropped before!”

 

Caleb looks unbothered.

 

It’s true, he’s dropped once before. At camp, they all practiced dropping. Caleb, Abe, all their platoon friends. But Ben was going in on the boats-- no need to drop. He was going to march straight off those metal cages and into the sand of Normandy. He was so proud.

 

It turns out, Washington hung around them without them noticing-- Washington pulled the three scraggly 18 year olds from Setauket aside and recruited them as spies. “Close-knit, secretive, and nothing to lose,” Washington had said about them. “Scrappy, but trustworthy. Looking to get into trouble. Patriotic. That’s what I need.”

 

And that’s how Ben was forced to drop out of a piece of metal floating in the sky at very last minute with no experience.

 

“I had no time to prepare, Abe, remember?” Ben widens his eyes to get him to understand. He would have to be subtle if they were going to be spies against the Germans.

 

“But he did.” 

 

“Why does it matter? We’re here now.” 

 

Abe rolls his eyes at Ben’s naivety. “You have to do better,” Abe spits. 

 

Ben looks offended, Caleb is angry. 

 

“C’mon, I found the Officers stash of French wine. Best stuff we got,” Abe says now, his voice low and apologetic. 

 

Caleb is not reluctant to follow.

 

Ben, all at once, is relieved and terrified that he’s here with his best friends.  _ This is going to be a long war, _ he thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you again for all your support! Leave all your awesome feedback, thanks always ~<3


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